Merola Grand Finale 2026

* Notes *

Ten weeks of opera training culminated last Saturday with the Merola Grand Finale at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. All the singers are at a high level, but there were still a few stand outs.

The orchestra sounded fine under Maestro William Long, the playing was idiomatic for all the different sorts of music we heard, whether it was opera arias or showtunes. There were some nice soli from woodwinds and strings. The musicians did not overwhelm the singers Claire Choquette’s stage direction was effective, the amusing bits were particularly fun

Soprano Abigail Raiford has a wonderful ease and clarity. She made for a delightful Blonde opposite the reedy bass Theo Harrah as Osmin in “Ich gehe, doch rate ich dir.” She sounded equally lovely in “Ah, perdona ai primo affetto” from La Clemenza di Tito with mezzo-soprano Stella Fitzgerald as Annio.

The quartet “Un dì, si ben rammentomi / Bella figlia dell’ amore” (pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken) from Rigoletto was impressive, featuring Raiford and Harrah as Gilda and Rigoletto, plus mezzo Theo Claveles as Maddalena and tenor Chester Seungyup Han as the Duke. Han’s voice is strong and distinct.

Han sang well in “Alerte! Alerte! Ou vous êtes perdus!” with Anna Thompson as Marguerite and John Mburu as Méphistophélès.

I also liked hearing “Nuit d’ivresse et d’extase infinie” from Les Troyens with Claveles and tenor Matthew Sink. Both these singers were featured in Ariadne auf Naxos, and it was interesting that soprano Adia Evans was not also in the Grand Finale.

The duet from Hamlet between soprano Jennifer Robinson and baritone Enes Pektaş (“Monseigneur! Ophélie!... Doute de la lumière”) was very lovely. Pektaş distinguished himself, he has a unique sound. It was also quite unusual to hear a piece in Turkish that he sang later in the night, “Şeyh Bedreddin Destanı” by Murat Cem Orhan.

* Tattling *

Someone’s phone on the right side of the orchestra level rang at least five times throughout the evening. It seemed that any time there was an exposed moment, that device was chiming.